I love that maple leaf! I've been looking for a particular style for a while for a tattoo. Even my cousins that have fallen in love with Canada through regular visits keep a keen eye for the Canadian flag when they're at home or elsewhere on vacation and don't hesitate to start chatting to people about it. So simple, beautiful and recognizable.

Originally posted by anitram It's my view that most people really like the maple leaf. It's become a very recognizable symbol globally and although I know that there were lots of complaints when they first came up with the design (famously that the leaf is red so that means it's actually dead), but I would say it's probably nearly universally liked at this point?

I'm pretty confident that if I went around asking people what their favourite flag is, Canada's would appear in pretty much every top five. It's just below the Welsh and silver fern flags for me (and incidentally, my favourite version of the silver fern flag is similar to Canada's flag).

Quote:

Originally posted by vaz02 Dunno really, i just feel no love for Canada. I assume its because Britain discovered and create oz from scrach.

40,000 years of Aboriginal history would take exception to your second sentence.

__________________"Mediocrity is never so dangerous as when it is dressed up as sincerity." - Søren Kierkegaard

Ian McCulloch the U2 fan:
"Who buys U2 records anyway? It's just music for plumbers and bricklayers. Bono, what a slob. You'd think with all that climbing about he does, he'd look real fit and that. But he's real fat, y'know. Reminds me of a soddin' mountain goat."
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I think maybe this is a regional thing in Canada. I know people out in the Maritimes and Newfoundland see the Union Jack flying around a lot more than here. I can honestly say I've seen it maybe a handful of times in the 17 years I've lived in Ontario.

It's my view that most people really like the maple leaf. It's become a very recognizable symbol globally and although I know that there were lots of complaints when they first came up with the design (famously that the leaf is red so that means it's actually dead), but I would say it's probably nearly universally liked at this point?

That's true about Newfoundland - I see the Union Jack every day. Two prominent spots where I see it are in front of my university and in front of the CBC head office. Even our library is named after the Queen! Quite a few people fly the Union Jack where my parents live. Sometimes I even see houses that don't fly the flag of Canada at all - just Newfoundland's flag and the Union Jack. I don't really know why this is the case (and no, they're not Brits). Possibly it's because Newfoundland joined Canada much later than the other provinces? Some of the older generations here still feel very bitter about joining with Canada.

I, for one, love the maple leaf flag.

As for swearing an oath of allegiance to the Crown...it doesn't bother me. I find it completely absurd that someone tried to sue because he had to pledge an oath to the Queen. If he's making such a big deal over something as minor as that, he obviously doesn't realise what a privilege it is to be a citizen here. I obviously accept that some people are strongly against the monarchy, and I can understand why some would feel a bit resentful about the oath, but to SUE THE COUNTRY over it? That's ridiculous.

I'm going to be a full-fledged citizen of Canada in two years' time. I don't mind at all that I have to swear an oath to the Queen (even though my thoughts on the monarchy are mixed). At the end of the day, it will simply be an honour to be considered a citizen of Canada.

Unfortunately I don't feel enough home grown people know enough about the history they are a part of. That's why I want the Oath of Citizenship - swearing allegiance part, I take to be reflective of a Nation as opposed to a guardian.

I'd be having to swear allegiance to a guadian that most people know nothing about by virtue of having been born here.

I agree, the suing is ridiculous. I also still feel that if the majority of Canada feels there should be ties to the monarchy then they should remain. I myself just desperately want to take an Oath of Citizenship that includes swearing allegiance to Canada the Nation, including all the things that make Canada unique.

I don't give a toss about the monarchy, as an English Quebecer/Canadian, and I doubt many Canadians do anymore

Separation in Quebec is a non-issue at the moment; the provincial government has been nurturing a burgeoning technology industry in the last decade as they figured out young people want jobs, not a separate country or an economic depression

There is still regionalism in Canada; Maratimers identify heavily with their culture, Quebecers with their varied heritage, uh, I'm sure Ontario residents identify with whatever culture they can scrounge up among the bureaucracy, and the prairie provinces and Vancouver can bugger off, so, yeah

but then, i'm an American who's lived in europe and traveled extensively across the UK and encountered far too many canadians with the flag affixed to every conceivable article of clothing and luggage and seem to think that this gets them some sort of brownie points with the host country when, in actually, the euros think it's a little strange.

but that's just me.

do like the national anthem, though. i made myself learn the words when i used to go to Hartford Whaler games as a kid.

but then, i'm an American who's lived in europe and traveled extensively across the UK and encountered far too many canadians with the flag affixed to every conceivable article of clothing and luggage and seem to think that this gets them some sort of brownie points with the host country when, in actually, the euros think it's a little strange.

Frankly I find the Mountain Equipment Co-op with the flag affixed to it stuff to be obnoxious.

But I also lived in Europe and I can't tell you how many times people would come up to me and say "thank God you're Canadians." This happened in the UK, but especially so in France. I also went to the Netherlands with a legal group last year, many of whom had the maple leaf affixed (I did not) and the Dutch seemed to love it (then again they have a love-in for this nation since WW2 it seems).

Doesn't mean I'd sew a patch on (I wouldn't and I have little affection for any form of nationalism), but I don't think your broad statement is right either. Also, I think the assumption is wrong in a sense - lots of Canuck kids who go abroad seem to really like identifying each other, since they are usually quite outnumbered by the Americans and Australians (why are these people everywhere??). I remember seeing it in a small train station in La Spezia - 4 Canadian tourists who recognized each other based on the maple leaf hugged, chatted, exchanged tips and so on. That probably plays a role too.